“In what could be the most extreme and influential crowdsourcing project ever, Democrats are beginning to organize to purposely vote for Palin in the 2012 Republican primaries. Their theory is by having Palin as an opponent, Obama will have the best odds at winning reelection. Recent polls have shown that Obama comfortably leads Palin by 10-20 points, but Obama is statistically tied with Romney and barely ahead of Huckabee. They even have a state-by-state primary voting guide to help Democrats navigate various states’ rules for voting Palin in Republican primaries.”

You just try telling me there's no God. If history teaches us nothing else about Him, we know He appreciates irony...!

To begin with, Palin is by no means poorly educated; she merely did not graduate with a degree from an Ivy League institution, which by any reasonable account in today’s academic milieu should stand decidedly in her favor...

As for the absence of foreign policy experience, David Jenkins reminds us in an article for PJM that, with the exception of the elder Bush (who, incidentally, was no presidential cynosure), “it is not common for presidents to enter office with foreign policy experience.” In this respect, Palin is no different from the vast majority of her predecessors and certainly not from the present incumbent. What is needed in this domain is precisely what Palin would bring to the highest office in the land: insight and principle...

...the truth is that frowning on Palin’s wilderness skills is nothing but class snobbery on the part of those who would be utterly lost were they stripped of the “civilized” amenities they thoughtlessly take for granted. It is their mincing pretentiousness and fashionable outrage, not Palin’s honest hardiness, that is deplorable...

Further, Palin is by no means politically unnuanced. Quite the contrary, she is as politically savvy as they come, whether on the domestic or international front. Her speeches during the recent congressional elections were not only unteleprompted barnburners in the best populist tradition, but revealed a meticulous command of the domestic issues currently bedeviling the nation as well as a finely nuanced understanding of America’s pancreatic failures in international diplomacy...

Palin does not believe in tax and spend, in fiat printing, in redistributive economics, in ObamaCare, in the AGW nonsense that is only an opaque wealth transfer scheme, in making purses out of sows’ ears (aka pork and earmarks), in pressing reset buttons, in blaming Israel for the Palestinians, or in a degrading and unproductive “outreach” to the Islamic umma. These are policies she would reverse, as indeed would anyone with a nuanced understanding of the economic and political worlds. There is little doubt that Palin would be a strong, resolute, and effective president should she ever accede to the White House.

Go RTWT. That's how the President of the United States is supposed to roll, and the sooner we correct our current disastrous mistake, the better off America--and the world--will be.

Consider those three words at the beginning of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America: WE THE PEOPLE.

Why were those words written in such an enormous, overbearing manner? As a reminder of who, exactly, has the ultimate authority in this country. But, as the great and learned Thomas Sowell points out here, our God-given and Constitutionally-explicit authority is being undermined by the criminal scum who think they're in charge of the rest of us.

It is not only members of Congress or the administration who treat "we the people" and the Constitution as nuisances to do an end run around. Judges, including justices of the Supreme Court, have been doing this increasingly over the past hundred years.

During the Progressive era of the early 20th century, the denigration of the Constitution began, led by such luminaries as Princeton scholar and future President of the United States Woodrow Wilson, future Harvard Law School Dean Roscoe Pound, and future Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis.

As a professor at Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson wrote condescendingly of "the simple days of 1787" when the Constitution was written and how, in our presumably more complex times, "each generation of statesmen looks to the Supreme Court to supply the interpretation which will serve the needs of the day."

This kind of argument would be repeated for generations, with no more evidence that 1787 was any less complicated than later years than Woodrow Wilson presented -- which was none -- and with no more reasons why the need for "change" meant that unelected judges should be the ones making those changes, as if there were no elected representatives of the people.

Go read the rest of this. Now. And then consider how far we've fallen.

While making my way through the intartoobz, I came across a comment--on a story in The Blaze, I think--which I found absolutely laughable. My internet connection threw a temper tantrum before I could reply, and now I can't find it again, but this is it, more or less:

"Libertarians don't exist. They're just conservatives who don't have the guts to be non-PC."

Oh, please. While I'm trying to not be gratuitously offensive on this blog, I'm so non-PC I could make the late Sam Kinison do a spit-take. Either this guy is trolling, or--like many so-called conservatives--just doesn't get the concept. So, for new readers and/or slow learners, I present the difference between libertarianism and too many people's idea of conservatism.

When libertarians talk about liberty, we mean it.

People on both the Left and the Right can talk both your ears off about freedom, but it's usually just talk. We've seen clearly that what the Left knows about freedom could fit up a flea's butt with room for a motocross race and a Metallica concert. But too many on the Right are simply mirror images of the same control freaks. Anything they don't approve of should be illegal. We have an 'obligation to society' to make it so. It's for the chillldrun. Does any of this sound familiar? Out of context, could you tell whether they were said by a liberal or conservative? Exactly.

Libertarians see no difference between a group of tyrants telling us we can't smoke tobacco, and a group of tyrants telling us we can't smoke marijuana. It's the same principle. You may or may not approve of tobacco. You may or may not approve of marijuana. That is completely immaterial. Freedom and liberty, the guiding principles of America, do not rest upon your approval. You have a right to your opinion, and if you disapprove of something, you don't have to support it, pay for it, or allow it in your house. But if it's not causing direct, proveable harm to the person or property of another, you have no right to initiate force--and the law is force--against someone simply because you're offended. That's the logic of shari'a law, of the Inquisition, of the tyrant. And that mindset is simply incompatible with liberty.

So, in opposition to my unknown commenter, I maintain that libertarians are conservatives with real guts--the guts to practice what they preach, even if they might be uncomfortable, offended or disgusted. A principle isn't something you make exceptions to, or sacrifice, out of convenience. It's something you live by and uphold because it's right. The main principle of this country is liberty. If you find that whole liberty thing really doesn't work for you, perhaps China or Iran might be a more suitable place to hang your hat.

Otherwise, there are times when you just have to take the bad with the good, or start down a path that eventually leads to nothing but bad. Remember, for every thing someone else is doing that you want banned, there's something you're doing that others want banned. A ban for a ban eventually enslaves the world.

Just a bit of faith here: Ponder Matthew 6:14-15 in the context of this post. You might find it relevant.

There would still be problems in a libertarian society. There would still be crime, income inequality, acne, nu metal, and reality TV. Most libertarians merely believe that in a libertarian society, most people would be better off than they are now—that being free to make more of your own choices is preferable to having politicians make them for you. Most conservatives and liberals also believe that most people would be better off if their own policy preferences were implemented. That isn’t in the same ballpark as promising utopia. People will still make bad decisions. They should be free to do so.

If anything is utopian, it’s the idea that the world would be much better off if only we put more of society in the hands of a few very smart people who somehow know all the answers. And that somehow the political process will ensure that those all-knowing people always end up in a position to make all the decisions.

28 December 2010

Don't get me wrong: If the whole thing were simply a matter of drug smuggling, I'd be singing a different tune. But this matter is far beyond innocent migrant workers or illicit substances. The illegal invasion has given rise to a wave of crime and violence that would give Capone pause for thought, and we've damn well had enough of it.

27 December 2010

Mistakes are sometimes made. Decisions are sometimes agonizing. Consequences are sometimes unpredictable. Brigid didn't have any idea where her decision would lead, but it ended up somewhere wonderful.

This is one of the most moving and profound blog posts I have ever read.

(And when you're done being awed by it, direct your attention to her sidebar where Brigid does comparably awesome things with food.)

26 December 2010

In just under 2 years as president, Obama has ushered in the government takeover of the healthcare, college loan, banking, and internet industries, in addition to extending the extensive government involvement in the auto industry that he supported during President Bush’s administration. President Obama has given further regulatory control to unelected agencies like the EPA, FCC, and FDA. He has added more to the national deficit in 2 years than his predecessors did in more than 200 years. His stimulus package led to over 10% unemployment, when it was promised to prevent unemployment from going over 8%. President Obama kowtowed (or as I like to call it, bowtowed) to both America’s enemies and union bosses. He pushed for a treaty with Russia that allows Russia to continue to produce nuclear weapons while America must halt weapon production; all the while reducing funding for missile defense. He mishandled America’s most destructive environmental disaster in history by blaming the previous administration for his own appointees’ failures. He is joined with foreign nations in suing the state of Arizona for desiring to enforce federal border security and immigration laws.

As Governor, Sarah Palin put $5 billion in state savings and decreased state spending by more than 9%. She reduced earmark requests by 80%. She stands for smaller government and reduced intervention by unelected, appointed bureaucrats. She stood firmly against the stimulus package and called for President Obama to veto the bill. She stood against cuts to missile defense and called for the Senate to not verify the START treaty. She called for the President to turn away from his “enemy centric” foreign policy. She stood for oversight of the oil industry and federal responsibility in cleaning up the oil spill, rather than burdensome, job killing regulations and drilling moratoriums. She stood with Governor Brewer in a desire to secure the border.

Governor Palin has private sector experience as a journalist, fisherwoman, and small business owner in addition to nearly twenty years of political experience between the city council, mayor’s office, Oil and Gas Regulator, and Governor. President Obama has experience as a community organizer, state senator, and US Senator. By the time President Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004, Governor Palin already had three times as much executive experience as President Obama currently has. She has had to balance a budget as a small business owner and a governor, and she has understood the importance of handling both prudently and responsibility. President Obama established a deficit commission after he signed legislation that added more than a trillion dollars to the deficit–willfully oblivious to the effects of his lack of executive experience.

If you juxtapose President Obama’s experience, policies, and record against Governor Palin’s experience, stances and record, then I suppose Williams is right. Governor Palin cannot stand on the “intellectual” stage with Obama, and rightfully so. While President Obama’ s supposed intellect has made us a less secure nation in every sense of the word, Governor Palin’s gubernatorial record and stances would lead America to a more financially stable and a more secure nation.

Mr. Williams...will you ever learn to refrain from sticking your foot in your mouth? You ought to be grateful that FOX is far more tolerant than your former employers at NPR.

On 1 January 1804, Dessalines, the new leader under the dictatorial 1801 constitution, declared Haiti a free republic. Haiti was the first independent nation in Latin America, the first post-colonial independent black-led nation in the world, and the only nation whose independence was gained as part of a successful slave rebellion. The country was crippled by years of war, its agriculture devastated, its formal commerce nonexistent.

Haiti was forced to make reparations to French slaveholders in 1825 in the amount of 150 million francs, reduced in 1838 to 60 million francs, in exchange for French recognition of its independence and to achieve freedom from French aggression. This indemnity bankrupted the Haitian treasury. It mortgaged Haiti's future to the French banks that provided the funds for the large first installment, permanently affecting Haiti's ability to be prosperous.

And now, after years of enforced poverty and ignorance, they're pummeled by a major earthquake...and a cholera epidemic on top of that.

It's one thing to let people suffer the consequences of their own stupidity. It's another to ignore those who are in dire straits through no fault of their own. VidSweet reminds us, below, of our duty as human beings to help the innocent.

In your heart of hearts, you know, like I do, that 2010 was the easier fight. You know that the next two years (and beyond) are going to require greater actions, greater coordination and greater sacrifice, if we are going to save this nation for your children and my children.

In a week, we need to start 2011, hopefully, refreshed and renewed, but start we must. The fight over the next few years will be more brutal, as the stakes for them and for us are so high. But, it is a fight that must continue until either they lose, or we lose and America is lost forever.
...
Our nation is far from secure, our childrens’ futures far from certain. We are the generation on whose shoulders this falls. No one else will do it for us, or for our children. We must do it—all of us.

Today, after all the toys have been unwrapped, take a moment to pause and look at your children. Do you think that in 10 years they’ll still appreciate that new X-box or doll house more than a free nation? In 20 years, do you think they’ll still be squealing in delight over unwrapping that toy made in China, or will they be crying in anguish over a nation lost?

November 2nd was the opening salvo. The war is still on. We keep fighting, tooth and nail, to take America back...or liberty is lost.

No part of this argument should be misconstrued as an endorsement of political correctness or the left’s agenda to grant positive rights to their own special interest groups for political purposes. If we are truly a free country and we meant what we said in the first amendment to our Constitution, then every individual, whether the most fundamentalist Christian or the most libertine atheist, should have the right to speak freely, even if what they say offends another person. For many devout Christians, it is their sacred duty to try to persuade their fellow man to repent of his sins and embrace Jesus as his savior.

However, there is an ocean of difference between persuasion and coercion. The minute that we say, “there ought to be a law,” we are picking up the sword. If we do so in defense of the inalienable human rights of life, liberty, and property, we are within our rightful authority. If we do so to supplant the authority of God, we become the very type of people that Jesus spent his life fighting against. To truly be Christian, we must recognize the need for “a wall of separation between church and state.”

Jesus was very clear about his views on what would lead to salvation and what would not. Jesus condemned many behaviors, like adultery, that social conservatives likewise condemn. He also said that “no one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) However, he does not go on to say, “Therefore, if your brother does not come to me willingly, then draw your sword and force him.” Salvation must be chosen; God did not create a race of slaves.

Remember, folks: Free will is one of God's most precious gifts to the human race. We have it for a purpose, and to force others to live by a single--human--interpretation of the Scriptures is to deny God's gift. God also gave us the gifts of logic and reason, which are the only way to truly bring others to Christ. The force of law can compel one to act in certain ways, but it can do nothing to compel one's heart, mind and soul, which are the places faith resides.

Sundance Cracker gives us a Christmas story that really puts things into perspective. No matter how tough things are, if you live in the United States of America in this day and age, you really aren't doing that badly by both the perspective of the rest of the world and history.

Dear Lord, I humbly thank You for the blessings You have bestowed upon me; a wonderful wife, a good job, great friends, good health, and--above all--the opportunities and benefits of America, Your childrens' greatest achievement. Please help me, and all of us, to never forget how blessed we are to have so much that others have never had, and many still have not. Remind us, Your children, what is truly important; not the latest and greatest toy, but love, compassion and faith.

By way of a Conservatives On Fire commenter, I have discovered the writings of Amil Imani. Go forth and read them:

Many non-Muslims are obviously very well-meaning with regard to Islam, but they are also extremely naïve and ignorant of the facts. They seem to think that Islam is just another religion of love and peace and Muslims should be given full freedom to practice their religion. Do they also believe that thieves, misogynists, rapists, child-molesters and any and all manner of practicing evils should be given complete carte blanche to carry on with what they value and believe? These well-meaning simpletons are just as deluded as the fanatic jihadists by refusing to acknowledge the fact that one cannot be a Muslim and not abide by the dictates of the Quran.

There is no such thing as moderate Islam. There is no such thing as secular Islam or a secular Muslim. How can you possibly secularize a shark or a snake? You can’t. It’s the nature of the beast. There are numerous sects within Islam. One and all are extremes and not in the least amenable to change. Keep in mind that Islam claims that it is the perfect eternal faith for mankind. Splits have occurred and will continue to occur in Islam. Yet, reformation has not happened in nearly 1400 years and is not going to happen. Islam is carved in granite, just the way it is. No change. Allah's book is sealed.

There are indeed some Muslims who are moderate in the way they practice their religion. These people, for the most part, are culturally Muslims. They don't practice Islam the way it is mandated. They pick and choose. Therefore, "moderate Islam," is no Islam at all. It is not possible. The only way to deal with the menace of real Islam, the Islamofascist varieties, is to fully dismantle it and relegate it to the confines of museums.

Many of Mr. Imani's articles grace the linked page. His website is here, and it will be available on my sidebar from this moment forth.

I salute your intelligence, eloquence and courage, Mr. Imani. God be with you.

21 December 2010

...because he just got burned so bad he'd have to leap into an active volcano to cool off.

Many of you may remember his whacked-out rant about the Caribou Hunt episode of Sarah Palin's Alaska. Maybe he should have gone with acid or ganja as his drug of choice, as I'm pretty sure the cocaine use has annihilated his entire cerebral cortex. Still, though I find it questionable to pick on the mentally handicapped, this dumbass really did bring his literary curb-stomping on himself.

Sorkin is out of touch and narrow-minded about how past civilizations, our pioneer settlements, and even current societies get their food. Sorkin hates people who hunt for food and who celebrate success because it brings food to the table. Again, he hates people who hunt—he hates Africans—well, tribes in Africa—indigenous Australians, Asians, Indians, and many other cultures that live off the land. I’m saddened that this white man is so elitist and racist! Sorkin, stand by your supposed moral conviction—we are waiting for you to rail against how the Jews and Muslims, Africans, Australians and Asians kill animals for food.

...

Sorkin admitted to buying meat and using leather. Those animals originated from animal farms, where animals are fenced in confined spaces, branded, and raised unnaturally. There, the animals’ sole purpose in life was to be fattened and killed. By contrast, the Alaskan caribous live and roam freely. Some do get killed for food by humans or other predators, but they can run away, too. The wild caribous have a better chance of surviving than do the farm animals that are herded into holding pens at slaughterhouses without escape before they are stunned then exsanguinated.

...

Fact: Palin hunted and killed an animal for food. Aaron’s entire premise, entire argument is INCORRECT. The hunt was not done with malice and it was not purposeless. It is one way Alaskans have caribou meat to eat. People eat, therefore they hunt. He may be unfamiliar with this because his favorite thing to consume is snorted off some surface.

RTWT @ C4P. And drink a toast to author VidSweet, who just made my blogroll for an ass-whooping done with style and brains.

Even at this late date, people are still of the opinion that the Governor doesn't have any grasp of foreign affairs. This ridiculous garbage even comes from some people--I won't name names--who really ought to know better.

So, you think Governor Palin doesn't know foreign affairs from a hole in the ground? Really?

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia "frequently exhorted the U.S. to attack Iran to put an end to its nuclear weapons program," according to these communications. Officials from Jordan said the Iranian nuclear program should be stopped by any means necessary. Officials from the United Arab Emirates and Egypt saw Iran as evil, an "existential threat" and a sponsor of terrorism. If Iran isn't stopped from obtaining nuclear weapons, it could trigger a regional nuclear arms race in which these countries would seek their own nuclear weapons to protect themselves.

That wouldn't be the only catastrophic consequence for American interests in the Middle East. Our credibility and reputation would suffer a serious blow if Iran succeeds in producing its own nuclear weapons after we've been claiming for years that such an event could not and would not be tolerated. A nuclear-armed and violently anti-American Iran would be an enormous threat to us and to our allies. Israel in particular would face the gravest threat to its existence since its creation. Iran's leaders have repeatedly called for Israel's destruction, and Iran already possesses missiles that can reach Israel. Once these missiles are armed with nuclear warheads, nothing could stop the mullahs from launching a second Holocaust. It's only a matter of time before Iran develops missiles that could reach U.S. territory.

Without notice and in a matter of minutes Sunday evening, the Senate approved the bill by unanimous consent, sending it to the House, where passage is expected. President Obama has said he would sign the legislation, which would give the government far-reaching authority to set and enforce safety standards for farmers and food processors.

I have a new slogan for 2011: REPEAL. And when people ask, "Repeal what?" I will answer, "YES."

Making the rounds of the Vast Right Wing Blogosphere is an actual technical explanation of how Leftists can actually believe--in the face of every bit of objective reality--that they're qualified to run our lives.

In a nutshell, whenever you read Rand and she is talking about “reason” or “logic”, she is actually (unwittingly) talking about Christ. John 1:1 specifically identifies Christ as “the Word”, which is “Logos” in Greek. Logos is the Greek word for “logic” and “reason”. God is, in Himself, logic and reason, and we are made in His image. The fact that humans possess the capability to reason and think logically is the attribute that makes us “made in the image of God”. Rand was so close. She knew that our ability to reason lifted us to infinite dignity, but she missed that it was Christ indwelling in our minds and giving us that “spark” of reason. She thought that human minds self-generated reason and that there was no outside Source.

Re-read Atlas making that substitution and it will knock you on the floor.

Whatever you choose to believe, if you don’t take anything else away from this article, understand this: The theories that some Young-Earth Creationists come up with are flat out stupid. Not only are the completely unscientific, they aren’t even grounded in the Bible. Where do the Biblical authors mention a giant ice canopy that melted and fell to earth and caused a flood?

So before you go making scientific claims, make sure you understand basic high school science…if you want to be taken seriously that is. And don’t believe Young-Earth Creationists just because they’re Christians. A lot of them have no idea what they’re talking about, even in terms of scientific theories that everyone knows are facts.

As I said, I'll be putting forth my own thoughts on the subject when I have time--things are a little busy right now. But just as Christians need to quit dismissing science out of hand, so do secularists of all stripes need to quit slamming their minds shut at the mention of faith. That's the only way we can ever have any form of civilized debate.

This is horrible. How could I have been so blind as to dismiss global warming as nothing but hooey, balderdash and poppycock? How could I have been so cynical as to contradict the claims of these great scientific minds?

Easily. The above-linked article is from 10 years ago. This is the state of things in Britain today.

Now, I may not have a degree in 'climatology,' but then, no one does. I may not be an Ivy League alumni--in fact, I never even went to college. But I can damn sure tell if it's cold outside or not. And I know enough to realize that if your theory conflicts with observed reality, then your theory is wrong. Anyone who still believes in Anthropogenic Global Warming at this point, is demonstrably insane.

The Earth is round, water is wet, and AGW is a hoax. Welcome to reality.

They took the law into their own hands, as it were, and made it clear they weren’t about to convict anybody for having a couple of buds of marijuana. Never mind that the defendant in question also faced a felony charge of criminal distribution of dangerous drugs.

The tiny amount of marijuana police found while searching Touray Cornell’s home on April 23 became a huge issue for some members of the jury panel.

No, they said, one after the other. No way would they convict somebody for having a 16th of an ounce.

In fact, one juror wondered why the county was wasting time and money prosecuting the case at all, said a flummoxed Deputy Missoula County Attorney Andrew Paul.

It's about damn time.

Let's just leave our respective opinions concerning marijuana out of this. The fact is, regardless of over a century of government lies saying otherwise, juries exist to judge, in part, the law itself.

Were it just a matter of judging the 'facts of the case,' any judge could do that all by himself. Facts don't change according to how many people observe them. The reason for a jury trial is to ascertain the community's opinion not upon the facts, or upon the letter of the law, but upon the spirit of the law. And that's just what this community did.

Nothing like starting a gloomy winter day off with some heartening news. Go, Montana!

17 December 2010

We've had enough of your misbehavior. You go to your rooms and think about what you've done.

Like a teenager to his parent, the "free" liberal reacts strongly against any effort to channel, upgrade, or improve his choices or behavior. From this rebellion, Lefty gets a very short-lived free "feeling" on which no lasting value can be built. The personal cost of this pursuit of disordered freedom is irresponsibility, frustration, and a lack of peace.
...
Unfortunately, today's left has a ways to grow before achieving maturity, lasting fulfillment, or personal excellence. At this point, these people are neither calm, cool game theorists nor consistent political wizards. Dr. Evil is safe and will be unchallenged for some time to come. For now, the ranting teenager analogy is the best fit.

Finally, I must apologize to mature teenagers everywhere. Let me be clear: ranting adolescents and rabid progressives are very similar. You, on the other hand, share nothing with the left.

And to you ranting teenagers, buck up! You will most certainly outgrow it well before Lefty does.

I've tried. I've really tried to understand the gun-grabbers. I've tried to reason with them. I've tried to explain the facts to them. I've tried to bring them around to the concept of logical thought. And it's like trying to reason a schizophrenic out of their delusions.

So, I'm done being nice about the whole thing. You hoplophobes can scream and cry and protest all you want, but it will not change this objective reality:

Indeed, Sarah Palin rose from humble origins eventually to win the office of governor of Alaska and take the number-two spot on the Republican presidential ticket. She overcame all obstacles without any connections, entirely by dint of talent, hard work, and perseverance. She fearlessly took on the GOP establishment and the oil interests that had dominated Alaska for decades, and she beat them all at their own game. She achieved great success and popularity in all public offices she ever held. And on top of all that, she efficiently juggled public service with homemaking duties, married an Eskimo (the left should be particularly ecstatic on this point -- a minority!), and gave her husband a hand in his business undertakings. She raised a large family and does everything a full-blooded Alaskan male is supposed to do, including killing her dinner.

A woman who can successfully challenge and beat any man, climb any mountain, ford any stream, shatter any glass ceiling -- a feminist dream come true, don't you think? And yet, the feminist leaders seethe with boundless hatred for that "upstart." Why?

Why do they hate her? Lewis hits the nail on the head. Sarah Palin is quintessentially American. She is a throwback to the days of the founders, when citizens became politicians because the common good demanded service -- not because political office offered wealth, power, and a pool of Beltway interns ripe for sexual exploitation -- and followed their tenure with a return to private life. But we now live in the age of professional politicians, the self-proclaimed best and brightest who make decisions for an electorate too simple to understand "the facts or the truth." Or so says Senator John Kerry, the Massachusetts politician who is to "haughty" what Paris Hilton is to "self-involved."

And so anger and angst bubble over, spilling out as the grandees realize Sarah Palin is just so darned...normal! Lewis describes her as a "beautiful, strong, intelligent, articulate, healthy-looking, truth-telling...gun-totin', sports-lovin', all-American woman." And that "sunny disposition" sets them off, for Sarah Palin is a fiery red poker plunged into the pasty white of the collective metrosexual gut.

15 December 2010

Our friends at NextMedia once again bring the snark, via Ace of Spades.

Honestly, I don't know which is weirder: that we're apparently outsourcing our news coverage to a bunch of animators in Taiwan...or that they're actually getting to the point a lot better than our LSM?

Back in the dim and distant past, I posted about the dangers of Iran's nuclear program coming online. It turns out that some unnamed party decided to jack them up without undue risk to others, by creating an agent of cyberwarfare that is, indeed, a thing of beauty. It is subtle. Elegant. And it almost remained undetectable. Truly a masterpiece, a shining example of the ingenuity inherent in God's children.

Me, I would have nuked the bastards and had done with it. I'm not holding my breath waiting for that Secretary of State appointment.

Forgive me while I go all fanboy here...but I just got one major compliment from someone who has all my respect. So, at the risk of blowing my own horn(I tried that once and couldn't move my neck for a week), I'm going to quote it here.

CROSSPOST UPDATE: A dude has started linking to some of my stuff on his blog. He calls me "Hottie With An Evil Pink Rifle". He has done so tonight with this post. Click over and read it. Let me just say that in this context I appreciate his . . . flowery prose and colorful metaphors. If things get hot, I want dudes like this right behind me as we storm the beach. Oooh-Rah.

Seriously...thanks for that. :D And if things get hot, I will have your back.

(If you click on the quoted link, it will take you to the post two down from this...or possibly into a dimension of pure chaos...pure evil. Where a Palin/West administration is in charge, Michele Bachmann is Speaker of the House and Jim DeMint is Senate Majority Leader...oh, wait...that would be the good dimension. Son of a bitch--this is the dimension of evil, isn't it?)

Let's get something out of the way now: all cultures are not created equal. Yes, some are better than others. Yes, some are more advanced than others. Yes, some are more successful than others--for a reason. Call me whatever names you want, that still won't make me wrong.

On the heels of that highly disturbing video I linked to in the last post, I present an extremely alarming trend which appears to be on the rise in America: The concept of interpreting American law in accordance with the defendants' cultural and/or religious beliefs. This concept is very interesting, mainly due to the fact that it is clear and present evidence of insanity on the part of its advocates.

Now, remember, folks...Detroit has been down with the ProgOppressive program for quite some time. Take a look at where it's led them--Straight. To. Hell. One would think that these Leftist 'intellectuals,' these beacons of reason and enlightenment, would--I dunno--take a look at the freakin' evidence right in front of their freakin' eyes, and conclude that the whole Oppressive thing doesn't really work as well as they thought.

One would think that. One would be wrong.

So, we see people who insist they want to create utopia on Earth, who are, in fact, acting in direct opposition to their stated goal. This is, on the surface, a contradiction. But contradictions are impossible. When facing a supposed contradiction, one only needs to check one's premises and figure out which of them is wrong.* In this case, the wrong premise should be obvious.

Oppressives say they want to create utopia. They are lying. They do not, in fact, wish to create anything. Their whole mission, whether they consciously recognize it or not, is destruction. They are nihilists. They are disciples of emptiness, who believe that the destruction of a thing of beauty puts the destroyer on the same moral level as the creator. Their ideal is the drab gray of nothingness, of indifference, of nonexistence.

If you wish to follow these people, it's your decision. I'm the last person who will ever interfere with someone's free will. But now you know the destination you're being led towards; the end result of The Master Plan. If you would travel this road, you should at least do so with open eyes and firm purpose. In that case, though I may fight you, I will at least respect you.

But now that you know the details, ask yourself: Is this truly the road I wish to travel?

* You may thank the late Ayn Rand for her Gordian-knot method of solving apparent contradictions.

I understand that there are still some people out there who remain convinced that re-legalizing drugs will cause havoc, bad hair days, chaos, human sacrifice, a new Back Street Boys album, the waking of Cthulhu from his ageless slumber in the heart of R'lyeh, anarchy, ragnarök, post-nasal drip and other horrific events sure to bring America to her knees.

"Dang right! If we...uh, waitaminnit...'RE-legalizing?'"

Yep, that's what I said. Observe Ye Olde Marketing Ploys from the days of yore:

I shall give you a moment to pick your jaw up off the floor before someone uses it as a dustpan.

You're reading that right: At the turn of the last century, you could buy heroin, cocaine, opium or anything you had a mind to, at any local druggist or mercantile store. Not only did you not need a prescription, you didn't even need ID. That's right--you could send your seven-year-old down the block to pick you up some heroin cough drops, a fifth of Jack, a box of 12-gauge slugs and a pack of cigs.

And yet, not only did America somehow survive, but she continued to produce some of the smartest, toughest, most independent and charitable human beings ever to set foot on planet Earth.

There's this theory out there that says that if you give people responsibility, true responsibility...that most of them will live up to it, and the ones that don't, wouldn't have anyway. I think the theory has been proven, in both the responsible behavior of our ancestors and the childish behavior of our descendants, who have been kept far too long in the nursery.

What do you get when you cross a dune buggy with a big freaking parachute?

A flying car. Yes, I know there are others out there, but this is just the effort of some unknown dude without a huge amount of venture capital. While others were saying, "it can't be done," he was busy doing it. That's America, y'all!

Lives have been ruined, criminal enterprises have boomed, and now violence is increasing at a geometric rate on our border...whether the current administration wishes to admit it or not. Simple minds see all this and say, "It's because of drugs!" People who can see the big picture have known for years that "It's because of drug laws."

Folks, it's long, long, LONG past time to face the facts. Drug prohibition is an absolute, unConstitutional, life-destroying, crime-enablingfailure. It's accomplishing the same things alcohol prohibition did, with the added bonus of being entirely outside the Federal government's Constitutional authority to enforce. And too damn many 'Conservatives' continue to willfully refuse to get the point.

The same people who will--rightly--point to history to demonstrate the failures of statism, will ignore that selfsame history regarding the inevitable outcome of prohibition. It goes beyond simple failure--it actually expands the same things it was meant to curtail. This is not a matter of opinion. It is a matter of indisputable, demonstrable, historical fact.

Whether you or I 'approve' of others' use of drugs is entirely and completely irrelevant. In a free country, no one else's life is subject to your approval. If someone steals to buy drugs, or drives under the influence, or attacks another person while high, it's the same as someone doing these things in regards to alcohol. In each case, it is the theft, the risk to others' lives, the assault that constitute the criminal behavior, not the possession and use of intoxicants, 'approved' or not.

If you Conservatives are going to claim to stand for liberty, you need to realize that liberty is all-inclusive. It means freedom for everybody. Not just you. Not just those who think like you. Not just those you approve of. You either stand for the right of every single peaceful person* to go about their lives the way they see fit, or you cannot logically claim to be an advocate of liberty. What you want is a tyranny you agree with.

I've been saying this for years, but it's never been more important that you drug-warriors start listening. Your decades of attempting to legislate morality have now brought open warfare to our very doorstep. I'm telling you the same things we tell the socialists: your policies have utterly and completely failed, and that's all they can do. They do not work, they cannot work, and all they result in is loss, suffering, violence and misery. Prove yourselves smarter than the socialists, recognize reality, and let's get to work cutting the financial legs from under these cartels.

Fast.

* For the purposes of this post, "peaceful person" is defined as someone whose actions are not causing direct, proveable harm to another person or their property.

I am now officially fed up with that tired old crap. Let me school you Leftists on a few matters.

First off, "Republican" does not equal "Conservative," and hasn't for a long, long time. The last Conservative we had as President was Ronald Reagan. George Bush 2.0 was not a Conservative. George Bush 1.0 was not a Conservative. Conservatives(and I include libertarians like myself in that definition) believe in limited, Constitutional government first and foremost. Fiscal responsibility follows from the "Constitutional" part.

We Conservatives and libertarians were doing the same thing during the Bush regime that we're doing now--decrying the expansion of government and the theft of our liberty. Just because the Leftist media didn't see fit to cover it, doesn't mean it didn't happen. The difference now is that we are much more able to seek out and connect with our brother and sister patriots due to the explosion of the internet and its attendant social networking capabilities. This makes us more effective, and more visible. The LSM can't ignore us any more, which is why they've taken to demonizing us.

Unless you're a hard-core Oppressive, you might be surprised at how much you have in common with real Conservatives. Real Conservatives don't want to run your life. We don't want to establish a theocracy. We don't want to take over the world. We respect and value the inherent dignity of every human being, and believe that empowerment of the individual is the best way to ensure that every person has the opportunity to be the best they can be.

Fake-ass Conservatives--the Cocktail Party--want to run your life and steal your money, just like the Oppressives. They may want to run different aspects of your life, and take your money for different purposes, but we consider them just as evil if not more so--at least, the Oppressives are fairly upfront about their intentions.

The Left/Right, Con/Lib, R/D paradigm is not at all how it's been presented to you. Open your mind, do your own research, and never jump to conclusions. What you think you know is likely wrong, and many of those you hate may one day stand up for your freedoms. Are your opinions really yours...or are you simply echoing that which you've been taught?

Every time we elect a Romney or McCain or allow the virus of doubt insinuated by the likes of a Karl Rove or the legacy media to occupy our better judgment we compromise something. We surrender, we expose our soft underbellies to elitism. All above and so much more are people who are essentially of the elitist class. They all have something to loose, POWER, and by consequence wealth.

...

See it is time to make the choice. Right now; and I believe this is the last time you and I will have choices. You have to choose not what these morally entitled elitists are telling you is right for you, which is them telling you what is right because it benefits them or their agenda, but what is not right and right for you. You still have this instrument of Liberty, your instrument of independence and freedom.
...

There so many of them, they are all really the same, left right middle, it don’t matter, they hold all the power and wealth, they are omnipotent and full of arrogance, they are not our friends or our allies, they are of an entirely separate class beholden to none of us but try everything to make us believe we are one of them, they are our best friends. Think about the lies and bullshit they all feed us with their silver spoons, but never allow that spoon to leave their grasp.

05 December 2010

Arnold Ahlert analyzes the motivations and, more importantly, the consequences of ProgOppressivism.

As the four recent examples, along with others occurring all over the world illustrate, a group of like-minded "thinkers" is emerging. It is a group composed in equal parts of economic illiteracy and pathological self-entitlement. Only an utter fool—or a dedicated progressive—would riot or strike because someone else can no longer afford to underwrite your lifestyle.

What part of "running out of other people's money" don't the complainers understand?

Such a complete disconnect from reality doesn't happen on its own.

It is where moral relativism, the cornerstone of progressive thinking, inevitably leads. Decades of teaching people that the state is their bottomless benefactor hasn't just ruined economies around the globe. It has ruined the people themselves. Economies eventually recover.

Courtesy of Don't Tread On Mike, I bring you Erica Goldson's graduation speech. This young lady, indeed wiser beyond her years than she gives herself credit for, explains exactly why our children will never be truly educated by America's public schools. No matter how much money is wasted, how many programs are offered, how many teachers we hire--the system itself is broken.

04 December 2010

While putzing about in my SiteMeter, I noticed more than a few referrals from Something Wicked Comes. I have no idea why this incredibly useful Prepper site would link to my demented collection of ramblings, but once you're done rolling your eyes at my snarkitude, you'd do well to head on over there and take some notes.

Maybe nothing will happen. Maybe things will go rolling right along with no serious interruption of our lifestyles. But if things go sideways, you'll have a much better chance of getting yourself and your loved ones through it with some simple skills, knowledge and preparation.

It's the newest comic on my Comics list. Geek humor that sometimes gives you pause for thought. Like this.

We've gone from ENIAC to the ready availability of pocket-sized devices that function as a phone, camera, video recording studio, text messager, television and computer. These devices are so widespread, many people can't imagine life without one. And this has happened within the memory of people living today.

Sometimes, it's a good thing to consider the wonders of the modern world.

Crossbow control. Yep, Canada needs total, unilateral crossbow control. Every single crossbow in Canada needs to be banned or heavily regulated to the point where you can't so much as look at one without 100 official permits. This will certainly stop anyone else from ever being murdered anywhere in Canada.

John Nolte (with a little help from the Motor City Madman) posits: Who are these elitist whiners to criticize anyone, let alone great Americans like Governor Palin? What have they done for anyone? In whose mind, other than their own, do they make the slightest difference to the world in general and America in particular?

For those of you who don't get why this is important, it means that when funds are appropriated by Congress, the Obama regime will be able to spend them solely as it sees fit. The normal Constitutional check against a runaway Executive branch, by defunding unpopular legislation, will no longer exist.

02 December 2010

OK, like for serious and stuff...if we can't remove Eric Holder for being either stupid, crazy or evil, then our system is Teh Brokenz0rz. The phenomenal Michele Bachmann lays it out for us.

We are supposed to be a nation of "Laws, not Men." A country based upon standards that everyone, regardless of race, color, gender, orientation, creed, faith or style of undergarments must adhere to. When the law of the land is cast aside in favor of Political Correctness, our Republic is in deep doo-doo indeed.

Well, I've tried like hell to stay out of this whole mess, but it looks like HillBuzz isn't exactly all it was cracked up to be. A massive defection occurred recently, spawning a new site populated by many of the ex-Buzzers. The rundown is here.

I cannot, in all good concience, leave HB on my list of blogs. However, I will not delete the posts or links concerning the site. Perhaps I was taken in, but so were a lot of folks. It happens. While Mr. DuJan's character may be questionable, he remains one hell of a convincing writer. No matter his motivations, he inspired a whole lot of people to a whole lot of great things. What turned my life around wasn't Mr. DuJan's writing so much as the wonderful Americans it attracted. And though the veil has been lifted, that crew of wonderful people still hang together and look out for each other.

Maybe "unintended consequences" is just another term for "God's will." Drop by HoneyTrail and meet some fine people!

UPDATE: HoneyTrail has now become The Last Refuge, due to infiltration by backstabbing jerks.

30 November 2010

Lots of sound and fury about that DADT thing lately. Read the AoS commentary here, poke around the links in it and judge for yourself.

The thing is, all this flap is completely unnecessary. There's no need to get the courts involved, or bounce it around the various media outlets, or consider the opinions of everybody and their dog. This whole thing could have been decided at any time since noon on 1/20/08. Why? Because(God help us all), for better or worse, Barack Obama is not only the POTUS, but the Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces.

Back in the dim and distant past, the US military was officially segregated. Almost all of the same arguments against letting Queer folks serve openly were applied to integration, but Harry S. Truman took the bull by parts unmentionable and corrected a long-overdue injustice via Executive Order 9981. Nothing could have stopped President Obama from issuing a similar order regarding gay folks. He and his cronies have been hellbent on pushing their agenda through, regardless of the will of the American people...why not step up to the plate and make a real decision?

There are only two explanations. The first is that he's voting "Present" again, as he seems to do whenever he's faced with a decision that wasn't covered in Marxism 101. Or, he doesn't want to give up one of those carrots the Dems dangle in front of the Queer community to keep them voting in lockstep with the Left.

Even if they are quiet, there are those conservatives who struggle with a female president. Dr. Dathan Paterno, noted psychologist and author says the reality is, that there WILL be a woman president in the near future—that it is in the American psyche. What happens if conservatives choose NOT to nominate Sarah Palin? Certainly the liberals will nominate a woman soon, and then they continue the whining about sexism that has worked for them for so long.

Mr. Simmons at the American Thinker helps sound the call: Governor President Palin, we need you!

I can't think of a reason why Palin would want to be president and move to Washington...

I can't think of a single reason she would want to move to an urban environment often choked with crime and poverty. I can't think of a good reason why she should want even more scrutiny into her life and her doings with her children and submit to being organized 24 hours a day. I can't think of why she would want to brave the wall of vitriol that would come from the left as well as many Republican establishment types...

In fact, there is only one reason I can ask Sarah Palin to brave the sewers of a presidential run. The reason is that we need her.

The brutal reality of America is that an aristocracy has developed in Washington against the wishes of the founders of this country. The Republican Party "insiders" are just as deep in the corruption and aristocratic thinking as the liberal elites. If anyone ever needed convincing of the deep disregard in which the aristocracy holds the serfs, the "insiders'" reaction to the Tea Party movement answered that question. In such an atmosphere of aristocratic minds, who else would be able to cut them down to size and remind them that they work for the people of America? ...Sarah Palin is one of few politicians who have fearlessly taken on the establishment, both Democrat and Republican, with a consistent message about the enforcement of the constitution and the returning of government to the people.

...but now and then, I'll take an online quiz. This one's entitled, "What Kind Of Conservative Are You?"

The answer, of course, will surprise no one.

My Conservative Identity:

You are an Anti-government Gunslinger, also known as a libertarian conservative or Tea Partier. You believe in smaller government, states’ rights, gun rights, and that, as Reagan once said, "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’"

Though we aren't quite at our best, the Republic hasn't fallen yet. So, whatever your faith or lack thereof, take a moment to appreciate what America has done for you. Then start thinking about what you can do for her.

23 November 2010

I'm trying to clean up my mouth and draw as many readers as I can without turning into Pat Boone, so I aim to keep this particular collection of 1's and 0's "PG-13." I'm not going to show you my junk or anyone else's(TSA badge or no TSA badge), and the worst thing I'll say here is "asshole."* However, some of the places I link to have looser content restrictions than I. Posts with questionable content will carry a NSFW warning, but you peruse my sidebar linkage at your own risk.

Having said that, I simply have to add Woodsterman to my blogroll. A dirty old man with a heart of gold and a great sense of humor. Likely NSFW, but lots of fun.

* I haven't done so yet, but I reserve the right--with adequate warning--to make exceptions if the situation calls for it.

Remember that contrailswamp gasweather balloonUFOthe triumphant return of Amelia Earhartmissile that was fired from sea level off the Kalifornia coast a couple weeks ago?

I had it figured that it was China. I thought it might simply be a stern warning to quit devaluing their debt. Hottie With An Evil Pink Rifle has a different, and likely more accurate, view of things.

So, China has given the Norks the go-ahead to destabilize the Peninsula. China can easily pin down all U.S. forces in the Pacific Theater (S. Korea and Okinawa for all intents and purposes) and take Taiwan. We don't have a prayer of stopping a Chinese incursion of S. Korea - even if we had the will. The Chinese Army is 2.3 million men, with another 1.5 million in the active reserves. If they needed to, they could summon another 30 million men through conscription if necessary and not even break a sweat doing it.

Further, China is not engaged in any conflicts, so they have their full military at their complete disposal. We do not. Oh - and one more thing. The United States is flat on its @$$ broke. China is not.

Finally, we have been shown by physical demonstration that if we resist China, they are ready, willing and able to launch missiles onto our cities.

Go read the whole thing. Then start rehabilitating that old bomb shelter your grandparents had installed during that Cuba thing in '63. "Interesting times," indeed.

EDIT: I just scrolled down HWAEPR's blog...and found her post from when the missile first launched. It has the same title. Great minds and all that.

22 November 2010

What's happened to us? Seriously. What insanity has gripped us as a nation and a species, that we view statements of common sense as something unique and inspiring? LtC West is telling us, basically, that the sky is blue and the grass is green. In no way do I mean to disparage this great American...I'm just wondering when, exactly, the majority of the American people told Reality, "It's not you; it's me. Can we still be friends?"

We all have those moments. Sometimes, a song gets stuck in your head. Sometimes it's just annoying(the same brain that couldn't remember enough to ace that algebra test somehow thinks you want to hear the Quizno's WE LUV DE SUUUUUBS jingle over and over again for a week)...

What is “acceptable”, while my ideas and values are mocked and trampled.

Enough. I have had enough.
...

Contrary to your false accusations against the genesis of the Tea Party, I began protesting the bailouts before Obama was selected and around the time that McCain had elected to suspend his campaign in order to rush back to Washington to sell us all out.

I went to the big April 15th rally with a “violent” sign forged from pink posterboard which simply stated, “Give all of Congress Pink Slips”. Frightening imagery, I know.
...

Oh yes, your side “went there”. Not only was there no outcry about the “violent imagery”, there were claps and cheers of agreement. You framed the imagery. Own it.

“Retreat and Reload”and “Burn down the house”. Get used to it. Don't think for a moment you've earned the right to open your mouth in protest.

Five posts since 2008, and Stop Shouting! has made my blogroll. When this woman speaks, you'd do well to listen.

For those of you who are still confused about this Tea Party thing, it has now been laid out in no uncertain terms.

20 November 2010

Now that you have your headphones on and have banished the easily-offended from your presence, I present an ageless routine from the late, great Sam Kinison(H/T John Nolte @ Big Breitbart). There are four more where that came from.